Colorado State University-Fort Collins Top Questions

Science, biology, sustainability

I don't know, haven't started yet.

The academics are fairly rigorous yet very doable. Not much is unrealistic about the academia.

Taught by very well educated professionals who do their best to make the class interactive and fun.

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Though some of the classes can feel intimidating, especially the 300+ student courses, most professors attempt to help students feel comfortable. Office hours are plentiful and easy to find, and communicating through email helps vastly. CSU offers some great extra help in the TILT building for those extra tricky classes.

The academics at Colorado State University allow students to grow in their preferred field of study. While it can be frustrating during one's first couple years of having to take classes that don't pertain to his/her major, it does get more interesting once General Education courses and Prerequisites are out of the way. Students begin to learn more about what they actually came to college for-- to become professionals in a selected field of study. Along with classes becoming more enjoyable, the class sizes decrease in size, which, I believe, allows for more personal growth as a student; professors get to know students by name and build relationships that ultimately help students to reach his/her maximum potential. It isn't uncommon to see students at CSU putting numerous hours into studying and homework, whether that be in different Halls or in the Morgan Library.

The academics at Colorado State University allow students to grow in their preferred field of study. While it can be frustrating during one's first couple years of having to take classes that don't pertain to his/her major, it does get more interesting once General Education courses and Prerequisites are out of the way. Students begin to learn more about what they actually came to college for-- to become professionals in a selected field of study. Along with classes becoming more enjoyable, the class sizes decrease in size, which, I believe, allows for more personal growth as a student; professors get to know students by name and build relationships that ultimately help students to reach his/her maximum potential. It isn't uncommon to see students at CSU putting numerous hours into studying and homework, whether that be in different Halls or in the Morgan Library.

The academics at Colorado State University allow students to grow in their preferred field of study. While it can be frustrating during one's first couple years of having to take classes that don't pertain to his/her major, it does get more interesting once General Education courses and Prerequisites are out of the way. Students begin to learn more about what they actually came to college for-- to become professionals in a selected field of study. Along with classes becoming more enjoyable, the class sizes decrease in size, which, I believe, allows for more personal growth as a student; professors get to know students by name and build relationships that ultimately help students to reach his/her maximum potential. It isn't uncommon to see students at CSU putting numerous hours into studying and homework, whether that be in different Halls or in the Morgan Library.

The professors are very friendly for the most part. Classes are usually too large to have every professor know your name though. Class participation is definitely common in most classes, and it is common. I think the school has very reasonable academic requirements, and CSU has a lot to offer.

At CSU classes can both be very large or small. Typically in the first two years students take more general classes which are very large lecture halls usually. Some of these classes have recitations though so students can have a smaller class in order to ask questions and have personal communication and interaction with a teacher's aid. As students get further into their major the class size usually decreases and they get to know their professors in their specific college on more of a personal level. So far my experience has been that the classes have been fairly easy. There are some classes though, such as chemistry and other sciences, that many students fail and have to retake them. There is a mix of students who study and those who don't. My hardest classes so far have been organic chemistry and writing arguments which I am taking right now. Both professor of these seem to care about their subject and students, they are just difficult material. Every department seems to be focused on what jobs are like within their field and many professors give advice and tips about how to succeed.

Most of the classes I've had so far are large lectures, but every professor I've had seems to be very passionate about what they're teaching and it makes me more interested in learning about the subject. All teachers have office hours when you can go get help if you're struggling, and getting to know them can be really cool and helpful. My favorite classes are the smaller ones, where you get to work with classmates and talk to a professor directly if you have questions. Most students I know attend class and do the suggested amount of studying, but are also helpful to others that aren't as prepared.

Class sizes vary greatly depending on the type of class. I've had large lectures and I've had small discussion classes. Normally, your first year or so, you take mostly general classes which are on the larger size but as you get more into your major the classes downsize greatly and professors are able to give you more individual attention. However, even in the big lecture classes the professors urge you to take advantage of their office hours to meet with them one on one. I'm an equine and animal science double major with a minor in agriculture business and I can honestly say that the professors in all of these departments truly want you to learn and experience as much as you can. They want you to succeed. I'm also in the honors program and most of the classes I've had in the honors program are very interesting and are there to give you a different view on the world that you may not get from classes in your major.

The education at CSU is geared toward learning for its own sake. The students are not wildly competitive, but grades are generally taken seriously. As a member of the Honors program, I have the privilege of attending seminars with fewer than 20 students total. My general classes tend to have anywhere from 120-300 students but I never feel neglected by my professors. My seminar professors know me by name but my general professors do not unless I interact with them outside of class. My favorite class this semester is the Psychology of Human Sexuality and my least favorite is Mind, Brain, and Behavior Psychology. Although I have not officially declared, I intend to become a Psychology major with a double minor in Spanish and Peacemaking. The Psychology department is my favorite on campus, though I may be a little biased. The Psych professors are not only knowledgeable, but the majority have a plethora of field experience and regularly research their science on the side.

Academics at CSU are great! Of course, being a larger school class sizes can get large but typically these are the introductory, lower-level courses. My largest class had almost 500 students, yet I never felt lost in the crowd. I've been fortunate to have nothing but amazing professors who are not only available to me personally, but really engaged in the material their teaching. The passion and commitment that the professors have is truly inspiring, I don't think that this is something every school has and I suspect it comes from from our status as a Research One institution. Because the professors are actively involved in research, their attitudes towards the subjects they teach are full of vibrancy and relevancy. Studying outside of class is convenient as there are many places on campus or throughout the community that provide quiet, studious atmospheres. Most of the students on campus are seriously dedicated to their education and it's not hard to find other students to create study groups with. Additionally, students are often very engaged in class, though it's not expected for everyone to speak up, often the classroom environment is interactive and exciting - providing lots of opportunity for laid back and constructive participation. These types of conversations are often continued outside of class as well - I feel smarter just walking around on campus and over hearing the many intellectualized conversations going on around me. I supposed that everyone's interest in their academics may be competitive, but as far as I've seen on campus, everyone is really encouraging of one another. I've had countless conversations with other students across majors, and though I've expected judgement I've only ever received insight and been encouraged to share my own as well. The most unique class I've ever taken examined the evolution of humans and plants together and showed the influence of the two populations on the growth and development of one another- I learned so much about the interactions between species that I still bring up in conversation today. Being an English major I'm so privileged to have multiple published and renowned faculty within my department, it really makes my education worth that much more to me! CSU's academics are definitely geared toward the success of each student, whatever that might look like for them!

For my undergraduate I was a Communication Studies major, and loved all of my professors. In the general ed classes, there are many more students and to get to know the teacher you have to engage in class. This is worth it in the long-run, since teachers are more willing to help out students who participate. Students constantly engage in class lectures and discussions, and are always willing to help outside of class.

They are good at CSU. We have some amazing sciences and almost all of my professors have been fantastic. In the bigger classes they obviously don't know everyones names, but they always have office hours or are willing to meet with you if you email them. It doesn't feel intimidating being in giant lectures. In the smaller classes, for the most part, the teachers work hard to know your name. All my professors have been great so far. They are accommodating, understanding, and friendly. I hate public speaking, but that class is required to graduate. I ended up loving it because my PS professor was so awesome. She made our class more of a little family so it was less intimidating, but she taught us so much, as well. She had the perfect balance between being our teacher and our friend. Professors really do try to get students involved as much as possible, even in the bigger classes, which can be a nice break from being lectured at all the time. Sometimes it is frustrating because I feel like CSU's education is geared towards getting a job or passing tests rather than learning for the sake of learning. I wish they focused more on that rather then just memorizing something for a test. I mean it obviously depends on the class and professor but I feel like overall that is the feeling. I think there is also a good balance between academics and fun. Students take the time to enjoy life and for the most part professors understand that. You have to put work in to get results but there is always time to relax a little, which is nice! There are lots of resources if you are struggling, as well. Tutoring, study groups, TA's, etc... You really can't go wrong, there are so many majors and great classes and opportunities to take advantage of at CSU!

I have wondered if I would have gotten a better education going to an Ivy league school or something, but the truth about college is that for the most part you get out of it what you put in. If you slack off, you won't learn anything, but if you are engaged during class, taking good notes, talking to professors, taking advantage of out of class resources, and putting in a little study time, you can get anything you want from a state school. I have been immensely pleased with my education at CSU so far. Also, there are tons of opportunities for doing undergraduate research with professors, which is one of the best academic perks of being a larger state school. I make an effort to introduce myself and get to know my professors, so yes they do know my name. It is more difficult to associate with professors outside of class because of the large class sizes, especially in your first year, but if you put forth the effort to get to know your professors, they will remember you. Also, you have the opportunity to become really connected with faculty doing undergraduate research. My biggest concern is lack of class participation. I find that most students are far less engaged in their education than I am. If anything, that is my main concern with going to a state school. Even in my major, Biomedical Sciences, which is relatively difficult, there are a lot of people who don't take their school work seriously. However, I have found my niche in the honors program through living in the honors residence hall with other honors students. I would highly recommend the honors program.

The professors here are really good about getting to know you. I still have professors remembering me after 3 years. You just need to make the first step and get to know them. I am studying biomedical science and my least favorite classes are the ones were the professors switch throughout the semester. It is hard to take their tests because you get use to one then are surprised by a new style. I really like my labs because they are more hands on and I lucked out for the most part with some really good TAs.

The academics here are amazing! Even though the school is large, professos act as though the school is very small. They are sincerely interested in getting to know their students and are eager to help them. All of my journalism professors I have had now know me by name and recognize me all over campus. I remember one time I was walking to a class during my spring semester of sophomore year and a professor I had my first semester as a freshman recognized the back of my head and started talking to me. She called me by name and asked specifically about things in my life even though she hadn't seen me in over a year. The funny thing was I had trouble remembering her name because it caught me so off guard! This is a perfect example of what professors are like here. Also, students here are very driven with their academics. Almost every student I know devotes most of their day to studying or working on projects they need to finish. Like most college students will tell you, it seems as if there is never enough time in a day to get everything done. However, even with all the overwhelming stress I have not known anyone to purposefully slack off. My favorite class that I have taken was feature writing. This class was geared towards exactly what I want to do with my career and my professor was amazing. I learned a completely new way to write and it has greatly increased my ability. One thing I love about the journalism department the most is how professors are so in tune with how to get you prepared for a job. I am in my third year of college and I have been involved with an internship for almost a year now, had my articles published in three different publications regularly, and have several internship opportunities for next year. Because of my department's support in helping me be prepared for my career, I have no stress about finding a job. I walked into this department lost and now feel I have a cleare vision than I imagined. My professors also have really helped me to just sit down and learn as well. Within the journalism department and out, I have taken classes solely for the purpose of learning something new and I feel it is these classes that will give me an upper hand in my life past college. The academics here do not lack. I have no regrets choosing this school.

Once I got out of the huge lecture halls and general ed classes that I had to take--my interest in learning multiplied. You have the ability to choose classes within your majors that YOU want to take. My average class size would probably be about 35-40 students. All classrooms respect differing opinions and teachers do know your name by the end of the semester.

The professors are extremely friendly, they will talk to you if you run into them outside of class and are always willing to help you. My favorite class was International Marketing, we had an amazing semester project. Some of the entry level classes are extremely boring, if you can get past those, the upper division classes are well worth your time. CSU isn't a real competitive school, most people are happy with their B's, but they care enough to participate in class. The Business school is fantastic, I have confidence that I will leave college with a good job. The Political Science department is good, they have a great internship program if you are willing to drive down to Denver twice a week.

My favorite class is this class because it is fairly easy and the teaching was very good! I enjoyed it very much.

The quality of academics at CSU is very diversified. There are some classes and teachers who are amazing, and others who are a waste of time. It's all really just random chance as to whether or not you will feel that a certain class is good. There is always the teacher and class that everyone on campus knows is a great class; and yet, there is also that teacher or class that everyone will tell you to avoid. One of the nice things that can help determine which teachers are worthy, is the online database www.ramratings.com. This site allows students to post comments about a given teacher, to help other students know what is expected in this teacher's classes. That can help take away some of the randomness of finding a good teacher. Typically, most teachers that are within your major are usually a little more invested in their students and classes, but again, this is only most of the time. There is always that one teacher who doesn't teach anything that you couldn't have learned on your own; and typically, this is a required class with this teacher. One of the things that I do not like about classes, is the stipulation by the college that each class have a writing element to it. Although I do believe many students can benefit from a little extra writing practice, there are still some classes that a written paper just is not necessary. In those instances, the teachers must impose an extra assignment on students, and this assignment usually has very little value to the class itself. Plus, it is my belief that if by the time you are 20 years old and STILL do not know how to write, then making you write a completely pointless paper in each and every class is not going to teach you good grammar and writing skills.

The graduate program I am a part of is fairly small, so the professors and I have a pretty close, casual relationship. However, I have also seen the faculty interaction with undergraduates, and I would say they go above and beyond what is expected of them. I appreciate the fact that most of the professors focus their courses on the practical application surrounding the subject matter. This is extremely valuable in pursuing a career in the field.

In the smaller classes professors know my name. Its really nice to have a class of 18-25 people, I can get to know everyone and learn better. In my major (biomedical sciences), the kids are extremely competitive. It's mostly girls though, the over achieving ones that like to spread their A's around in people's faces.

Fair

I am still a freshmen so the majority of my classes are lecture halls. i don't enjoy that aspect very much but i am looking forward to getting more involved with my major in turn, smaller classes.

Most of my professors do not know my name but they are all quality instructors.

In my dorm, students study a lot! Everyone does homework at least for a couple hours per night, but most of the work is reading in the textbooks for understanding, etc. As far as class participation, many of the smaller classes encourage people to participate during class. The larger classes usually have clicker questions that count for attendance points, etc. Most of the grading scales are based on absolute scales (not bell curves), so many students can receive A's in their classes if they work hard enough, etc. Because of this, students are not too competitive about grades- there are lots of group study sessions and such. I absolutely love my major and department! The freshman classes are geared towards becoming familiar with the faculty in the department, etc. There are also clubs relating to the major, which is great!

My favorite class right now is MGT 320- Contemporary Management Principles. Jim McCambridge is a really good professor and the class is the perfect size for student-professor communication. My favorite class so far is Bus 200-Business Communications with Brenda Ogden. I learned a lot about how to write professionally and how to give a good presentation. Much better than Speech! Most of my classes are preparing me for a career, but most of the core classes are just for your own basic knowledge and can be pretty frustrating. I'm a business major and I had to take Intro to Prehistory for my history credit. It was really hard for me to understand and pay attention to!

Some of my professors know my name, but usually in small classes. My favorite class is my social work practicum. My least favorite class is anthropology. I think many of the professors are morons who are in their own little world. I think CSU has great academic requirements; just the right amount. Students don't seem competitive and outside of class there isn't much intellectual conversation.

I'm a chemistry major here at CSU so my experience has been a little different. From day one, I was placed in a chemistry class for chemistry majors. As you probably imagined, there were not many of us. General chemistry and organic chemistry were the only classes we had our own sections for, but in physics we'd still sit together and study for exams together in the chemistry majors' lounge. This was really helpful because I've never felt like I'm doing this alone. While every major doesn't have something quite like this, I would encourage everyone to meet the students in their major if they're given the opportunity and make this happen for you. Having a solid group to fall back on when you're not understanding something is the biggest help in college. As far as academic rigor is concerned, it really depends on the class. There are some classes that you will barely need to study for and, especially as you get older, there will be classes that seem to take up all of your time. What is important is to meet with your advisor when you're sorting out your schedule so they can guide in spreading out your more time consuming requirements. I didn't take all of my elective classes freshman and sophomore year so that I'd have something easy to take when my chemistry classes were getting hard. That's been important

I came to CSU wanting to go to Veterinary School (which I did - Yeah!) The pre-veterinary program was amazing. There is a lot of advising support for both academics and activities needed to get into vet school. The Pre-Vet Club is a large organization that provides a lot of opportunities and a great networking tool. I was a biology major in the Honors Program. The Honors program was amazing. In the place of some of the core requirements (speech, writing, social studies, etc) I took seminars that covered several of the areas. My favorite was Pulp Fiction in which we looked at the noir genre, compared movies to books, and looked at impacts on society. The science courses I took were also very good quality and I feel like it gave me a great foundation for vet school. Plus, I got to meet some of the vet school professors in some of my undergraduate classes.

In college, you take control of your own education. If you don't want to come to class, don't, then just remember that for the exam, your going to be wondering if you studied everything you needed to, and it's harder to read and understand someone else's notes. Personal experience: if you go to class, do the homework, and listen, you'll get at least a decent grade. Put in that little bit of extra effort on the exams, and you're set for an A.

The professors are wonderful. They really want to see you succeed and are there for you if you have any questions. Almost all of my professors know me by name and ask how I'm doing. CSU also has this internet program called RamRatings where you can see what past students have said about a particular professor so you know who you should get.

Class participation is at an average level. About half the people are active members. The most unique class that I have taken is Insects and Society.

Do professors know your name? No Tell us about your favorite class. Least favorite? Math classes. Language classes. Are students competitive? Yes

The academics is so hard for no reason.

The academics are not too tough. BUt as I progress into my sophomore, junior, and senior year, I'm sure they will get harder. I do not enjoy any of my classes but that is probably because I am open option.

I feel that the advising department at CSU is second to none. I love it!

I have not created a great relationship with any of my professors so far, but I am still willing to. I am a slower learner so I like to create relationships. I think the classes are all fairly perfect. They are not too hard, nor are they too easy.

Half of my professors know my name. Some of my larger classes they dont but my calc class prof does a pretty good job. My favorite would have to be calclus. The prof is great and makes it fun. Also, my history class is alot of fun. The students are somewhat intelectual. I do have in depth conversations outside of class with fellow students.

may of the professors are less understanding

Around campus people study. There are many people around who want to excell in their classes and show it through the act of studying. This act seen by other students will motivate the other students to excell in their classes. When you are not the only one who cares you tend to learn more effciently. Teachers are helpful here. Of course like all other colleges, there are teachers who teach because they have a degree and can not find a job. Most of the teachers I have encountered have been quite caring.

I really love the academic part of CSU because eventhough teachers don't just always remember your name because you are in their class, they certainly will if you make the effort to get to know them. And if you do make that effort it is really easy to make important connections, especially in the Business College where I take most of my classes. I feel that the atmosphere in and out of class is an intelligent one, people talk about real world issues and not just random gossip. The most unique class I have ever taken, believe it or not, is psychology 101. It was probably the funniest class where I learned the most because the professor was awesome. THe academics as a whole are definitely oriented toward helping students find their way to whatever career they desire. There are so many resources for jobs and internships, and also clubs.

I don't think that a majority of students study often enough. Class participation is helpful, but uncommon in the big lectures.

There are a lot of very good professors here at CSU, and a few not very good ones. None of my professors know me, but that's because the classes I'm in have 200 students. I'm trying to get into the business college, and the requirements to get in are pretty hard. You need a cumulative GPA of 3.0, and some other things. Overall I'd say it is a pretty good school.

It is challenging but not too difficult. The teachers are always willing to help and most the time class sizes are not too large, depending on the class.

No my professors do not know my name. Students study as often as needed. For some class participation is always a lot but for most they don't contribute. I think CSUs academic requirements are good.